We test the purchasing power parity hypothesis for the Mexican peso/US dollar real exchange rate using monthly data for 1969–2010. Results suggest that the real exchange rate reverts to a changing mean. These mean shifts can be explained by liberalization policies implemented during the 1980s...

We show that the use of the real effective exchange rate to test for purchasing power parity, as in Astorga (2012) and other studies, is subject to a problem that biases tests against finding evidence of PPP. The problem is illustrated using Astorga´s data on six Latin American countries.

We show that the use of the real effective exchange rate to test for purchasing power parity, as in Astorga (2012) and other studies, introduces a bias against finding evidence of PPP. The bias is illustrated using unit root tests applied to bilateral real rates.